Ice-cream can



J. E. BIRN EY Dec. 22, 1925.

I CE CREAM CAN Filed June 11, 1923 fiza.

Patented Dec. 22, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES E. BIRNEY, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR F ONE-HALF TO PATRIGK'I. IBIRNEY, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

ICE-CREAM CAN.

Application filed June -11, 1923. 7 Serial No. 644,623.

T 0 all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, JAMns E. BIRNEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ice-Cream Cans, of which the following is a specificalion. 1

My invention relates to improvements in ice cream cans, and other like receptacles and storage vessels, and its objects are: first, to provide a simple, easily adjusted means whereby the ordinary cover handle of the can may be readily utilized for carrying the entire receptacle and its contents; second, to provide a means whereby the cover may be so firmly set upon the receptacle, especially in the handling of ice cream cans, that the can may be moved sidewise with the cover handle, to loosen the can should it become frozen into the ice bucket, or that a vacuum under the can, which often occurs, may be readily broken by moving the top of the can alternately sidewise with the cover handle, and, third, to provide a means whereby the cover of the can may be so rigidly looked upon the can, without trouble or great exertion, that it will be impossible for it to become loosened in the ordinary handling of the can.

I attain these objects by the mechanism and disposition of parts shown in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is an elevation of the upper end of an ice cream can with my appliance in place, and represented as brought about by extending the ends of the ordinary cover handle to the edges of the can cover and properly forming the extreme ends thereof. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan of the can cover with an auxiliary strip applied to bring about the desired results upon old cans with the handles firmly fixed thereon. Fig. t is an elevation of me upper end of a can with the auxiliary device in use, and Fig. 5 is a plan of the locking device detached from the can.

Fig. 6 is a modified locking device.

Similar reference characters indicate similar parts throughout the several views.

In the construction of newcans I prefer that the cover handle, 3, be extended, as at 3, to the edges of the cover, as in Fig. 1, and the extreme ends formed into cylindrical bearings 5 through which the locking bolts 6 are p ssed- Tliese l king bolts are mad of the can as to be practically integral therewith. T o l.ock the cover 2 securely upon the can 1 it is simply necessary to turn the projecting wing of the bearing lip 7 away from the body of the can, as indicated in Fig. 5, and place the cover in its proper closing position on the can, when the bolts must be made to revolve until the lip 7 is pressed firmly against the sides of the can just below the bead 4:.

In Figs. 2, 3 and 4 a represents the end of the cover handle as it is ordinarily applied to the cover. Upon old work I provide two means whereby my device may be readily applied, as follows: first, I sometimes make a separate bail 10 that is provided with a slot 11 that will pass freely over the handle 3 of the cover and will lie closely to the upper surface of the cover, as in Figs. 3 and 4;, and provide the ends with openings, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4:, for the reception of the bolts 6. These devices may be used upon any and all cans of uniform size, and are not confined to a single can cover, as in Figs. 1 and 2. My second means for attaching my device upon old cans consists in placing short extensions, as 3, upon the can cover, as from the line indicated at bb in Fig. 2, leaving a-space between the ends of the old handle at a and the extensions at b, and securely connect said extensions with the cover. The disadvantage in this construction lies in the fact that the device cannot be transferred from one cover to another, as the disconnected device shown in Figs. 3 and 4 may be, but, at the same time it averts the danger of ever becoming disconnected from the cover and lost. The pin 6 is designed to prevent the bolts 6 from dropping too low in their bearings.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a modified form of disconnected locking device which consists of a single strip of sheet metal 10" so formed that it may be made to lie over the regular can handle 3, loosely, designed particularly to be used in the place of the disconnected locking device shown at 10, so arrangedand applied that it may be applied to, or removed from a can cover withouttrouble or inconvenience, and may be applied to any can, as desired, thus enabling the operator to apply the one cover and locking device to various cans, as is intended with that shown in Figs. 3 and 4t and, in many instances, perhaps much more advantageously, the locking devices or bolts 678' being the same as those shown in the other figures on the drawings.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new in the art, is:

1. In combination with a can having a strengthening bead around it near the top, and a cover for said can; a yoke passed over the cover and having cylindrical bearings at the ends thereof, bolts passed through said bearings and having eccentric heads thereon adapted to be made to engage the bead outside oi the can and draw the cover firmly upon the can.

2. In combination with a can, a cover having a centrally located handle thereon, and a bead formed outwardly around the can, a yoke passed loosely over the cover and having an opening at the longitudinal center for the passage of said handle, cylindrical bearings upon the ends of said yoke, bolts passed through said cylindrical bearings outside of the can, eccentric flanges upon said bolts, and means whereby the bolts may be made to revolve a one quarter turn to cause the eccentric fianges to engage the sides of the can immediately below the bead and draw and lock the cover firmly upon the can.

Signed at Grand Rapids, Michigan, June 5, 1923.

JAMES E. BIRNEY. 

